by Major Matthew Orris, Small Wars Journal
Lexicon and Struggle (Full PDF Article)
Winners and losers of a war may already be known long before the first shot is ever fired if a belligerent has prepared or long term strategic information operations (IO). This is the one weapon of mass destruction we as a nation can ill afford to lose control of, but yet it seems it is the one 'weapon' that lacks a priority commensurate to its power. IO is, in theory, a continuous loop that runs the entire "spectrum from peace to war and back to peace and it involves all elements of the national government, not solely the military". It is supposed to be a sequential process in which guidance originates from the National Command Authorities (NCA), through the various departments within the government and performed simultaneously at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels through public diplomacy, foreign aid, cultural exchanges, education, law enforcement, electronic warfare, computer network operations, psychological operations (PSYOP), deception, and operation security (OPSEC) to influence, disrupt, or usurp the adversary. So what does all of that have to do with warfare? In a word, everything.
